photo: Zach Levenson (PJ Maigi/Springfield Cardinals)
In a FREE article, at no. 25 in The Cardinal Nation’s Top 50 prospect countdown for 2026 is an outfielder who may have started to put it together in the second half of 2025. Will Zach Levenson break out in a likely return to Double-A to open 2026?
Position: Outfielder
Age: 23 years old
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6’0, 211 pounds
Acquired: Selected in the fifth round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft, number 158 overall
Hometown: Oviedo, Florida
College: Miami
Opened 2025: Peoria Chiefs (High-A)
Primary team in 2025: Peoria Chiefs (High-A)
Finished 2025: Springfield Cardinals (Double-A)
Prior Top 50 rankings – 2025 #27, 2024 #33
Click on the above photo to be taken to Levenson’s player page at The Cardinal Nation, with additional biography and history information.
2025 highlights
| Tm | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | HR | SB | CS | BB% | K% | BABIP | wRC+ |
| Spr/Peo | 449 | 0.245 | 0.367 | 0.403 | 0.770 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 14.7% | 18.9% | 0.287 | 121 |
Link to Levenson’s career stats
Kyle Reis’ scouting report
Kyle’s ranking – no. 22
If you want to know what having “The Intent To Do Damage” can do for a prospect, I will gladly direct you toward Zach Levenson.
The frustration with Levenson since he was drafted by the Cardinals has been that it feels like he was holding on for his life at the plate. His swing was usually reactive, and that limited his type of contact. Across the board, exit velocities were less than inspiring, and his direction of contact was always wonky because of it.
At the start of the 2025 season, Levenson was as passive and reactive as I had ever seen him. It did appear that he was better identifying pitches he could do damage with, but he still wasn’t doing much with it.
Then, somewhere in the middle of May, I noticed that Levenson’s swing changed. Not the mechanics of it, mind you. Rather, Levenson was up there absolutely HACKING at the ball. At first, it didn’t have the success that one would hope for, but it was still encouraging to see. All that one could hope was that he wouldn’t regress back to the old swing because of lack of production.
Well, he didn’t, and now he’s a real prospect worth getting excited about. It took nearly the entire month of June for Levenson to start marrying his results with his intent, but it was a thing of beauty once it finally did happen. From the start of June until the end of the season between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield, Levenson hit .276/.389/.444 in 306 plate appearances with a K rate of 20.3% and a walk rate of 14.4%. Even more impressive, Levenson did most of that damage after his promotion. Not only that, but there is damage to all fields in his swing.
Speaking of his swing, one of the things that I’ve loved the most about Levenson over the years is how easy his operation is at the plate. His swing is quiet from toe to bat-tip, and it’s direct and through the zone with little wasted energy. As I write it and think it, I can’t help but assume that a lesser and louder swing mechanic would struggle to have success with the amount of intent that Levenson is now swinging with. That Levenson is fully in control of every part of his body while swinging as his life depended on it is probably the only reason why he’s had success since implementing the intent. He’s also doing a better job of getting his arms extended at the right time within his swing, and that’s been a huge and important mechanical adjustment.
For many years, the data has told us that Levenson has a talent to find the barrel and make contact in the zone, but it never played out positively because of the type of contact he was making. The second half of the 2025 season was the first development step in the process of putting both these things together. The next step is the continued refining of what he is already doing. If he continues down this path, Levenson has the potential to be an everyday corner outfielder in the majors. Continuing to work ahead in counts and manage the lower and outside part of the strike zone, especially from advanced right-handers, will be his make-or-break adjustment.
Levenson has a strong arm in the average-to-above range, but he’s limited to a corner because of average speed and average athleticism that I’m probably mildly underrating, quite frankly. I know that he isn’t afraid to put his body on the line to make a play and to help the pitcher and his team, as well.
If you want to sound cool around your friends (if you live in the same pathetic world as me), Zach Levenson might be THE under-the-radar hitting prospect to pick to eventually show-off about when he makes his major league debut or murders the ball continuously during spring training. If he can continue the same path as in the second half of his 2025 season, then that’s exactly what should happen. It has been awesome to watch Levenson turn some of his potential plus raw power into potential in-game above average power, all while accessing more and more of his hit tool.
Hooray progression!!! Boooooooooo regression!!!
Brian Walton’s environmental impact report
Brian’s ranking – no. 35
Background
Levenson played for Seminole State College of Florida in his freshman year. The outfielder also played two years of summer ball with the wood bat, dominating both the 2022 Northwoods League (.938 OPS) and the 2021 Valley Baseball League (1.160 OPS). Between the two showcase leagues, Levenson hit 11 home runs in 236 plate appearances. The Valley experience opened the door for him to join the Miami Hurricanes.
As a junior, Levenson was MLB Pipeline’s number 204 prospect for the 2023 draft, but the Cardinals took him at 158th overall. Levenson signed for the slot amount of his fifth-round pick, $381,300.
Upon signing, the 21-year-old was immediately assigned to the Low-A Palm Beach Cardinals. The right-handed hitter slashed .268/.331/.480/.811 with six home runs, 22 RBI and 24 runs scored in 34 Florida State League contests. He played all three positions in the outfield.
In spring of 2024, Levenson starred in the new Spring Breakout minor league showcase event created by MLB, hitting a solo home run in front of a national audience.
To open 2024, his 2023 Palm Beach outfield teammates Won-Bin Cho and Joshua Baez joined Levenson at High-A Peoria, with injured Travis Honeyman and first-rounder Chase Davis surprisingly left behind in Florida. Only Cho and Levenson remained with the Chiefs all season long, which was consistent with their 2023 results.
Levenson started 2024 well, with a .294 average and .851 OPS in April, but could not sustain. In his final 51 games, from May 1 on, he batted just .186.
After sitting out multiple days in July, he appeared as the designated hitter only until his season ended one game after the All-Star break. On July 20, he was hit by a pitch on his left hand/wrist area. Levenson spent the final seven weeks of 2024 on Peoria’s seven-day injured list.
In his abbreviated season, Levenson slashed .215/.317/.367/.684 in 294 plate appearances over 70 Midwest League games. 21 of his 54 hits went for extra bases.
He was a league-average player offensively, as evidenced by his 100 wRC+. His BABIP was just .257. Perhaps it was due to poor batted ball luck or maybe it reflects his challenge of not barreling the ball often enough.
2025 recap
Healthy again, Levenson returned to the Midwest League to open 2025. He struggled in the early going before spending 10 days on the injured list in May. Over his first 108 plate appearances in 25 games, he drew more walks (17) than strikeouts (16) and had more Ks than hits (15). As a result, Levenson’s slash line coming off the IL was .170/.324/.261/.585.
He picked up his play in June (.786 OPS) and July (.872), and on August 12, Levenson was promoted to Double-A Springfield.
For the entire season, he tied for the Peoria team lead in home runs (eight) and was tops among Chiefs in OPS at a relatively modest .750. His High-A strikeout rate (18.2%) and walk rate (16.2%) were close to one another.
With Springfield, Levenson slashed .275/.350/.484/.834 in 103 plate appearances over his first 26 Double-A games. His strikeout rate was 21.4% and walk rate was 9.7%.
Levenson swung a hot bat in the Texas League playoffs as he hit .385 (5-for-13) and drove in two.
Across the system in 2025, Levenson tied for fifth in walks with 66 and his resulting walk rate of 14.6% was also fifth highest in the organization. His wRC+ for the season was 121, 21% above league average.
2026 outlook
After pondering Kyle’s scouting report, I realize that I may not have given Levenson full credit for his late-season surge in 2025. It is a good reminder that we should remain open about changes prospects make as they progress and not pigeonhole them.
Still, I want to see more of the same over an extended period before I am fully convinced. Double-A is a great place to step forward offensively, but sometimes as players move ahead, they cannot sustain initial flashy results achieved in the Texas League. And it would be positive for Levenson to put his name on Cardinals system leaderboards other than ones related to taking walks.
But the time is not right for Levenson to be promoted again, anyway. As noted, he has barely a month of experience with Springfield. Further, Joshua Baez, certainly, and Chase Davis perhaps are ahead of him in the Triple-A outfield promotion queue.
So, returning to Double-A to open 2026 feels right for Levenson. If he steps forward like Kyle believes, a second half shot at Memphis could easily be in the cards.
Future outlook
Future Value: 40
Role: Reserve
Risk: Moderate
Kyle’s confidence in Levenson’s progress is a factor in the bump up in the outfielder’s future value. However, I am not yet ready to label him a future MLB starter. But with continued progress, Levenson will not only move up in our rankings, but could also increase his future value.
A strong 2026 would also position Levenson well to achieve protection on the 40-man roster in the fall, like Baez achieved in 2025. It would not be surprising to see Levenson take the spot of Matt Koperniak, for example, an outfielder who had similar potential two years prior before plateauing at Triple-A.
Hoping for a Baez magnitude of breakout may be too much to expect from Levenson, but he does have that late 2025 momentum to build upon. A 2026 version of 2025 Nathan Church (without the MLB debut) might be an attainable near-term outcome. If all goes well, Levenson’s first shot at St. Louis may occur in 2027.
MLB debut: 2027
Rule 5 eligible: 2026
Our 2026 Top 50 series continues
To see the entire list of top Cardinals prospects, grading scales and remaining article schedule, click here. This includes the Top 50 countdown and 10 in-depth, follow-up articles breaking down the list.
50 Days, 50 Nights, 50 St. Louis Cardinals Prospects for 2026
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
Not yet a member?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider joining The Cardinal Nation to receive the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system, including access to every article in our 2026 Top Cardinals Prospects series.
Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian and The Cardinal Nation on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
Follow Kyle Reis on X/Twitter.
© 2025 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.